The Transcendentalism: The Effects Of Nineteenth Century

The effects of Nineteenth Century transcendentalism continues to live with us today. Transcendentalism was a reaction to the grim conformity of the era’s rapidly modernizing society. To be transcendentalists was to believe that one could only achieve personal fulfillment and greatness through individuality and refusal to join the herd. Henry David Thoreau was in the vanguard of the transcendentalist movement and advocated a radically contrarian approach to work. At the dawn of the Industrial Age, labor was viewed as a noble pursuit. To Thoreau however, labor was stifling of human character. Labor was the cause of routine and conformity which constricted individuality. While Thoreau expressed concern about constricting uniqueness, he failed